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One of the most pressing and difficult environmental issues of today is the disposal of scrap rubber tires, particularly those designed for highway use on trucks and automobiles. Such tires are typically manufactured to resist road hazards and last for tens of thousands of miles. It is this propensity to longevity, however, which makes the disposal of scrap tires extremely difficult. This problem is further complicated by the overall volume of scrap tires being discarded, running into the hundreds of thousands each year.
Various attempts to dispose of scrap tires have thus far met with only limited success. Stockpiling and landfills require significant acreage and provide ideal breeding grounds and habitat for mosquitoes, snakes and other undesirable vermin. Incineration of scrap tires releases various toxic substances into the atmosphere and recycling is generally a complex process requiring significant amounts of energy and has thus far proven to be cost prohibitive. Thus, there is a need for viable alternatives for the ultimate disposal of scrap tires and therefore a corresponding need for a tire cutting machine to facilitate such alternatives.
It has heretofore been the object of the several types of tire cutting machines disclosed in the prior art to cut scrap tires into various portions thereby reducing the overall volume required for storage of the scrap tires and facilitating the handling and ultimate disposal thereof. One of the types of tire cutting machines disclosed in the prior art generally cuts, shreds or rips the scrap tires into smaller random segments. Typical of such machines are those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,339 issued Mar. 18, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,087 issued Sep. 23, 1986, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,707 issued Feb. 15, 1994. Another type of tire cutting machines disclosed in the prior art generally cuts the scrap tires radially resulting in transverse segments thereof. Examples of this type of machine are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,338,839 and 4,338,840 both issued Jul. 13, 1982, U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,236 issued Jul. 28, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,146 issued Jul. 2, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,325 issued Sep. 3, 1996. It is a disadvantage of each of these machines, however, that no further operations may be performed on the resulting segments of the scrap tire and therefore, there are only limited options for the ultimate disposal thereof.
A third type of tire cutting machine, considered to be the most relevant prior art to the present invention, generally separates the sidewall portions of a scrap tire from the tread portion by using some combination of a driving means by which to move the scrap tire into a cutting means. These type machines, however, are generally limited to performing one cut, or set of cuts, depending upon the number of cutting means, per tire. For example, the machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,888 issued Aug. 17, 1993, uses two separate cutting means to simultaneously separate the sidewall portions from the tread portion of a scrap tire. Once the sidewall portions are removed from a particular scrap tire, however, no further operations may be performed with this machine and there are therefore only limited options for ultimate disposal of the resulting portions of the scrap tires. Likewise, the machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,072 issued Feb. 7, 1978, uses one or more cutting means such that each scrap tire is cut axially around the tread portion thereby resulting in separated sidewall segments and, depending upon the number of separate cutting means utilized, one or more tread segments. Again, however, once a scrap tire has been passed through this machine, the resulting segments have only limited options for ultimate disposal.
Similarly, the machines disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,296 issued Oct. 31, 1972, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,004 issued Feb. 11, 1997, both utilize a pair of cutting means to separate the tread portion of a scrap tire from the sidewall portions. These machines each contain a further means to transversely cut the severed tread portions such that said tread portions may be further utilized for some secondary purpose or stacked in a flat position. It is a disadvantage of the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,296, however, in that it requires the operator to manually force the severed tread portion along a cantilevered support member to engage the transverse cutting means thereby placing the operator at risk of serious personal injury. Likewise, it is a disadvantage of the machine of U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,004 in that it utilizes a hydraulic ram and a cutting blade to shear the severed tread portion transversely, requiring significant energy and strength of machine. It is a further disadvantage of these machines that, once the tread portion is severed, it may only be cut transversely into shorter segments thereby limiting the options for which the said tread portion may be used.
Thus, there is a need for a portable, safe and versatile machine with means of cutting scrap tires into multiple segments with control over both size and shape to provide alternative options for the ultimate use and disposal of scrap tires.
The present invention provides a machine for cutting scrap tires into numerous segments with a variety of shapes and sizes. The machine involves a base, a body member, a drive means assembly and a cutting means assembly, said cutting means assembly being vertically disposed above said drive means assembly. The drive means assembly includes a pair of front drive wheels, said front drive wheels being mounted on a front drive wheel shaft extending between a first drive assembly arm and a second drive assembly arm, and a pair of rear drive wheels. A drive power means is also included for providing rotation of the front drive wheels and the rear drive wheels. The cutting means assembly includes a front cutting wheel, said front cutting wheel being mounted on a front cutting wheel shaft extending between a first cutting assembly arm and a second cutting assembly arm, and a rear cutting wheel. A cutting power means is also included for providing rotation of the front cutting wheel and the rear cutting wheel. The cutting means assembly is positioned such that the lower arc of the front cutting wheel passes between the upper arcs of the front drive wheels to form a front cutting assembly and, similarly, the lower arc of the rear cutting wheel passes between the upper arcs fo the rear cutting wheels to form a rear cutting assembly.
In operation, a scrap tire, or a portion thereof, is passed between a cutting wheel and the corresponding drive wheels thereby cutting the tire. The front cutting assembly may be used to provide transverse cuts across the tire material or the tire material maybe manipulated to provide decorative cuts or various shaped portions for practical or aesthetic uses. The rear cutting assembly is used primarily to cut strips of tire material, primarily of the tread portion of a scrap tire, and includes an adjustable guide to control the width of such strips. Thus, it is an advantage of the present invention that material from a single scrap tire may be cut into a variety of shapes and thereby maximizing the use of the scrap tire material. Other features and advantages of the present invention are provided in the detailed description of the invention below.